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Whitehead concedes to Broun

Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2007

ATLANTA - Former state Sen. Jim Whitehead on Tuesday decided not to seek a recount in the 10th Congressional District, clearing the way for Athens physician Paul Broun to be sworn in as Georgia's next congressman.

Just 394 votes separated Whitehead and Broun, both Republicans, in last week's runoff, according to official returns certified Monday by the Georgia secretary of state. The victor will replace Charlie Norwood, a seven-term congressman who died Feb. 13.

Whitehead's spokesman John Stone said Monday Whitehead would seek a recount, but Whitehead said Tuesday that after learning the process could take up to a week he decided against it.

"The people of this district have been without a federal representative since February, and that's long enough," Whitehead said in a statement released by his campaign.

"For the good of the people of this district, I will let the results stand and allow us to regain our vote in the House immediately."

Broun said Tuesday that he had not heard from Whitehead.

"That's good news," Broun said, when told of Whitehead's statement. "I've already had several calls from people in this district seeking assistance from their congressman, so I think it's time for me to get to Washington and get to work."

News that Whitehead had abandoned a bid for a recount came as a surprise to the office of Gov. Sonny Perdue. Earlier in the day, a spokesman for Perdue said the governor had decided to hold off on signing official paperwork declaring Broun the winner until a recount was complete.

"If that's the case, that they are not seeking a recount, then there is no reason why we would not go ahead and transmit the results to Congress," Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said.

Perdue did not endorse Whitehead, although he appeared with the candidate at a June 4 meeting in Augusta to hear concerns about opening a satellite campus for the Medical College of Georgia in Athens. Whitehead promoted the appearance on his campaign Web site.

Broun had been planning to fly to Washington on Tuesday afternoon for a swearing in today. He scrapped the plans Tuesday morning after Perdue's chief of staff, Ed Holcombe, called a Broun aide to tell him of the recount-related delay.

Results certified by Secretary of State Karen Handel on Monday showed that Broun drew 23,529 votes in the July 17 runoff, while Whitehead received 23,135 votes.

Whitehead and Broun were the top two vote-getters in the 10-candidate special election June 19. Whitehead was the clear front-runner going into the runoff and drew 44 percent of the vote in the special election. Broun was a distant second with 21 percent of the vote.

Turnout for the July 17 runoff was about 14 percent of the district's 340,562 registered voters.